Chapter 37: Sweet Potato Tarts

Chapter 37:
Sweet Potato Tarts

The master and pâtissier of the “Flying Puppy,” the cake shop on the floor above Nekoya, came down to the basement with order in hand early that morning, while the restaurant was still being prepared to open its doors.

“Yo. Hard at work as always, I see?”

“Yo-ho.”

“Ah! Good morning, Master!”

Nekoya’s master and Aletta both greeted the man as he strolled in with his wagon covered in cakes.

“G’morning to you, too, little lady. I’ve come bearing the gift cakes! I got the usual set aaand one special addition.”

The Flying Puppy’s pâtissier began unloading the usual suspects like pound cake and pudding, and then took out “today’s special cake.”

“Wow, those look amazing!”

Aletta couldn’t help but voice her impressions. The surface was a reddish purple, but its insides were a rich, golden yellow. They looked unbelievably delicious. Just a glance at them told her they were packed with sweet amazingness.

“Don’t they! I actually used stuff from this season’s first harvest, you know?”

The pâtissier couldn’t help but crack a smile. Every year, from the end of summer on “Vegetable Day” to the end of the year, this particular item was a staple of the Flying Puppy’s fall menu. Regulars had been asking him to make it a normal addition to the menu for years, but he made it a point to limit it to this specific period. It was part of why it was so popular.

“It’s sweet potato tart season around these parts now, you see.”

The pâtissier grabbed a tart off of his wagon and handed it to Aletta.

“His treat. Give it a try.”

“Huh?! Really?!” Aletta instantly turned to her boss.

“…Just the one.”

“O-okay. H-here I go…” Aletta gulped and took a bite of the tart.

Ah. This is…

The baked treat crumbled and melted away, spreading its sweet flavor throughout her mouth. It had a fruity sweetness to it stronger than anything sold at Nekoya but also completely different from the cream available here. It was mysterious.

The baked dessert slowly made its way to the bottom of her stomach. The texture of the cake disappeared from Aletta’s mouth, prompting her to take another bite. It only took a paltry five bites before the tart had vanished.

“How was it?” the pâtissier asked, his eyes narrowed and focused on the young lady.

“Delish!” responded Aletta with an instantaneous nod of her head.

“Well, I’m dang glad to hear it!”

The pâtissier, relieved by her words, turned to the master. “So I’m gonna be selling these starting today. You’ll help a pal out, right? If I remember correctly, you got some sweet potato tart fans on that side, right?”

Not too long ago, the master had told his friend about the regular who only showed up when sweet potato tarts went on sale every year.

“Aye. In fact, I’m kinda getting the feeling they’re gonna pop up today.”

Nekoya had a regular who only showed up during the fall months, their eyes keenly locked on to the sweet potato tarts and little else. It was about time for them to show their face. Or at least, that’s what the master’s honed instincts were saying.

***

It was the Day of Satur, and the remaining snow in the town at the foot of the mountain had finally melted, signaling the arrival of spring.

“Mm, today seems about right.” Antonio, a priest of the Lord of Gold, ruler of the skies, nodded to himself. “I’m going to train for a bit. I’ll be back by this evening.”

Antonio briefly informed his wife and children of his business and set off to his training space.

“Hrm.”

It was a location that had long been used for that purpose. Antonio looked up at the sheer cliff in front of him, impossible for any normal human to climb. It was so high up that its very top was covered in snow and nearly invisible. Fortunately, this was hardly a problem for Antonio. He was one of the most talented priests among those who worshiped the Lord of Gold.

“It’s time for me to be on my way,” Antonio whispered to himself and began preparations with great haste. He took off his simple top and wrapped it around his waist, revealing his well-built body and dark brown skin. The priest quietly closed his eyes and brought his hands together in prayer toward the master of the skies and lightning, the Lord of Gold. This great deity was one of the Ancient Six, legendary beings who took the form of the most powerful creature in all the land, the dragon. In order to have some of that power shared with himself, Antonio focused all his energy toward his prayer.

“Nrnn!”

The powers activated the moment he shouted into the air. Through his prayer, he was able to grow two golden wings out of his back, not unlike the ones the Lord of Gold had.

“Hrm.”

The priest took a moment to practice moving his wings, mostly to help his body become acclimated with the new limbs it just sprouted. Once he was sure everything was in order, Antonio looked up into the sky and took flight. The ground below him grew smaller and smaller, the cliff of stone in front of him zooming by.

Near the very top was his objective. It was a small area jutting out from the cliff with only the narrowest of standing room. It was there that he found the suspicious black door stuck to the wall of stone.

“I hope he has them in already.” Antonio put his top back on and opened the door.

***

The sound of bells filled the air.

***

“Master, I have arrived. Hrm?”

“Ah, welcome!”

The overwhelming presence of the Lord of Red immediately washed over Antonio the moment he stepped through the door. He turned and curiously tilted his head in response to the young waitress who hadn’t been there when he last visited during the fall.

“Hm. Woman, who are you?”

“Oh! My name is Aletta, and I work here part-time as a waitress! It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Judging by the goat horns atop her head, Antonio deduced she was likely a follower of the old god of chaos, the same deity who had been cast to the great beyond by the Ancient Six. Most citizens of the north would be taken aback by Antonio’s appearance, but there wasn’t even a hint of fear in the young girl’s eyes as she introduced herself. The priest concluded that she must’ve been hired during the winter, which would explain why she was used to dealing with all manner of customers. After all, this place was more than happy to serve even monster folk.

“My name is Antonio, and the pleasure is mine. By the way, are sweet potato tarts available for purchase yet?” He wasted no time.

“Absolutely! We just started selling them today in fact! Would you like to place an order?” Aletta answered his question with a beaming smile, and Antonio immediately nodded.

“Indeed. Can I get…five orders for now and some milk?”

“Understood! That’ll be right out!”

After watching Aletta return to the kitchen, Antonio sat himself down at one of the tables.

Citizens of the north don’t believe in the dragon gods, and yet here she is in the Lord of Red’s holy territory. Fascinating.

It’d been about half a year since Antonio last dropped by the restaurant, so he took a look around to see what, if anything, had changed. He could sense the energies of the gods flowing throughout the room. This really was a bizarre place.

As per the usual, Nekoya was overflowing with the energies of the Lord of Red, one of the Ancient Six and master of the flame. When Antonio was just a young lad, he set out on a journey across the continent, partially so he could acquire his wings. On that journey, he learned all sorts of things and saw all manner of places, one of them being a temple built out of the Lord of Red’s shed carcass from 500 years in the past. He recalled the deity’s presence being overwhelmingly strong even then.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Lord of Red herself must be a patron of this place.

If the Lord of Red truly was frequenting this land, that would be the only possible explanation as to why. The implication, then, was that Nekoya’s food was fit for even the gods.

Which I suppose explains the citizens of the north.

Antonio turned his attention to the customers who were already seated. Sure, there were beasts who worshiped the Lord of Green, and even lamia, followers of the Lord of Red. But for the most part, the customers here all lived in completely different cultures than Antonio. They were the citizens of the north, those who lived in a godless land.

He first heard of their kind some three years ago. It all began with a young man who claimed to be a treasure hunter. A bizarre job description to be sure. Apparently, he had been sent flying to Antonio’s continent by the powers of an old ruin left behind by the long-eared invaders of yore. According to the man, who was searching for a way home, there was a continent beyond the “Sea of the Lord of Blue” to the north. He claimed that a great deal of people lived there, and his suggestion was that the land Antonio and his people lived on should be referred to as the “Southern Continent.”

The people of Antonio’s town found the man’s story to be curious, but not the priest. If anything, it helped fill in the blanks. As someone who had long since been visiting this strange little restaurant, he now knew for sure that the people he saw here were citizens of the north.

Antonio rarely saw people from the Southern Continent at Nekoya. It was more than likely that most of the doors on the continent had simply not been discovered yet. Despite this, there was still a small but growing population of southerners appearing at Nekoya.

“Um, sorry for the wait! Here are your sweet potato tarts and milk!”

Just as Antonio found himself lost in thought, the woman from before returned with food in hand.

“Ooh! It’s here!”

The priest immediately cut his thoughts short as his expression brightened. Sitting atop the dessert dish was a delicious golden kumaala, the sweet potato goodness he hadn’t had the chance to eat in roughly half a year. Six years ago, it was this very dessert that had charmed Antonio.

“Take your time and enjoy!”

Antonio watched as the girl politely exchanged words with him and left, leaving him to immediately begin his assault on the sweet potato. He lifted the plate, small enough to fit in his hands, and bit into the potato.

The sweet, moist flavor of crushed and baked kumaala filled his mouth and melted away into his stomach.

Ah! Spring has finally arrived.

It wasn’t until Antonio was eating a sweet potato tart that he felt like spring was truly here. Kumaala were easy to raise and store, so it was common to see them on the dinner table throughout the year. However, Antonio was never much of a fan. Boiling or running fresh kumaala over flames typically sucked the moisture out of them, leaving one with a dry mouth.

That’s what made these sweet potatoes so different. They were sweet, moist, and melted away in Antonio’s mouth. As far as he could tell, the master likely used milk or butter to make up for the missing moisture.

The way the sweet potatoes were mashed and reformed allowed for them to release their true sweetness.

If I could eat sweet potatoes like this over on my side, I would’ve never had any issues with kumaala.

But there was no use crying over what he didn’t have. Instead, Antonio decided to enjoy the food available to him in this holy land and continued dumping sweet potato after sweet potato into his mouth, occasionally breaking to take a swig of some cold milk. It only took two bites for an entire sweet potato tart to vanish into thin air. Soon after, his entire plate was empty.

“Woman, I’d like another serving.”

“Okaaay! Hold on just one moment!”

And so, the feasting resumed.

This is the perfect springtime food.

Antonio felt the arrival of spring as he filled his stomach with sweet potato tarts. This was his yearly tradition.

Antonio paid for his food and enjoyed a cup of “coffee,” a bitter, black tea-like beverage. The beverage was effective at washing away the taste of the kumaala.

With his business taken care of, the priest returned to the cliff from whence he came.

“Hiyah!”

Antonio took his top off, and, with a yell, sprouted wings from his back and flew into the air.

“Another seven days to go.”

The winged man hovered in place, all the while eyeing the spot where the door was. It wasn’t a long period of time to wait, and yet it still felt like an eternity. Antonio flew away, vowing that he would return.

This was the one thing Antonio looked forward to every year. For him, spring had only just begun.